The crux of Kanuk’s argument centers on the aforementioned river, according to NPR.

When the river ice moves out in the spring, it carves away at the bank. The permafrost usually helps keep the bank pretty sturdy, but it has begun to melt, and the bank has softened. Last spring, the Kanuks lost eight feet from their yard.

The deterioration only accelerated from there. Last summer, another five feet was ripped away from Kanuk’s yard.

Feeling helpless, but also itching to do something to protect the land that his family has lived on for generations, Kanuk hooked up with Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit that is currently helping him with the court case.

Just like in the Oregon case, in which a local judge dismissed Chernaik and Juliana’s lawsuit, a state court judge in Anchorage tossed Kanuk’s case out, though the teenager is appealing to the State Supreme Court.

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